Facebook calls come to Apple iPhone

Facebook is to test phone calls via its Messenger app for iPhone in America

Facebook emailed its American members over the weekend to tell them that they may be eligible for a share of the funds if their names, profile pictures or photographs were used in one of the website’s so-called “sponsored stories”.Photo: AFP/Getty Images

The world’s most popular social network is testing voice calls in the US as it seeks to add more mobile services.

The company said in an email that it’s extending a test begun in Canada earlier this month. Callers can use the app to make phone calls to friends over data networks instead of the voice service provided by traditional phone companies.

“We started testing this in Canada the first week of the year and today we’re extending that test to the US,” Facebook said. “We were able to expand the test so quickly because it went well in Canada and we wanted to expand the audience.”

The news came the day after Facebook announced a new way of searching through information it holds about members. The 'graph search' tool is designed to link up the vast store of information in Facebook's database, making it possible for members to search for friends based on their interests or even for friends of friends.

Demonstrating the feature, Mark Zuckerberg gave the example of a recent gathering at his home to which he invited friends based on the search "who are my friends in Palo Alto who like Game of Thrones", the popular fantasy drama.

"Facebook's worst nightmare is a static social graph; if users aren't adding very many new friends or connections, then their personal network becomes less and less active over time," says Forrester's Nate Elliott. "Terrifyingly for Facebook, that threat is very real: We haven't seen significant growth in the average number of friends per user recently."

The graph search and the phone calls function is seen as a way for Facebook to increase user engagement, especially via phone; although graph search is not yet available on mobile, a launch is planned. Facebook, based in Menlo Park, California, is stepping up its efforts in mobile to attract more consumers who use the service via tablets and smartphones. About 60 percent of Facebook’s more than 1 billion members used mobile devices to access the service at the end of the third quarter, up from less than half of them a year earlier, according to a filing.

To make a call on the application, users tap on an “i” and then choose the option for “free call.” The application helps members quickly share messages with friends via mobile devices, including features for scrolling through a list of friends and checking on past notes from users.

Facebook slipped less than 1 percent to $29.85 today at the close in New York. The shares have fallen 21 percent since the initial public offering price of $38 in May.